By Nicholas Jason Lopez “Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post. (Aired 3/7/17) Vices By Vipers – The opening video recapped the last month, aka Randy Orton’s “master plan” to sacrifice himself into The […]

“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.

(Aired 1/5/17)

Three-Way Dances With Wolves

– The opening video highlighted TNA World Champion Eddie Edwards, also known as “Mr. Anything Is Possible” (yes, they’re making that a thing) and his run thus far. He fulfilled his dream and “Never Said Die.” They ran through the controversial finish where he defeated Ethan Carter III in a defense and then the undecided finish at Total Nonstop Deletion when he/Lashley literally battled themselves into Acocalypto and through a door frame along the way. With the way they set that up, one would only assume a three-way for the Title would be the next and best chapter. Oh yea, it’s 2017 now, so gone is the old logo and now appears the infamous blue owl of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Look into its eyes. Look at it now. To us, it looks like more of an angry blue mustache.

– The Edwards/Lashley/EC3 in-ring segment furthered our predictions above, as they reacquainted us with the Champ and his “It’s a new year with big changes” predictable promo. Edwards has improved on the mic during his time as Champ, but his delivery felt a bit forced here. His “surprise” was mentioned as such, but he was interrupted by Lashley, who retained his badass persona from 2016. EC3 joined the fray to crack jokes on both guys and mentioned a year ago he won the belt. Lashley/EC3 both wanted their rematches and the “fighting Champion” officially called for a three-way as we’d find out the surprise later. They might as well had said Davey Richards right then and there. Overall, decent staff that did drag, but ultimately served its purpose.

– The TNA Impact Grand Championship match between Champion Moose and The Miracle was a rehash of their Bound For Glory feud within the confines of the Impact Grand Championship rules. Smart for commentary to bring up Miracle/Maria’s debut one-year anniversary and it made us wonder how that time went so fast. The two felt each other out to begin as commentary annoyingly mentioned the words “being physical” and “controlling the action” as for what the ringside judges scored on. They do this for every single time they have this match. Think we get it by now. Don’t have a drinking game to these matches, that’s for sure. The good part of the story that was worked in was how well they knew each other, which made sense given that Miracle was the one who brought Moose into TNA originally. Miracle was awarded Round one. Moose hit some impactful moves in Round two like a powerbomb and second-rope moonsault. Miracle replied back with a superkick and a midair cutter. Miracle was in control with 30 seconds left in the round before Moose hit a big clothesline and went for the cover, but time went out. Moose won Round two, which meant it would start Round three with it being anybody’s match. Moose began with a Go To Hell for a two-count. We liked how they managed to have a believable back-and-forth bout and utilized the rules to the fullest extent. Moose missed another moonsault attempt and was hit with the Piledriver for a close near-fall. A slugfest ensued as they exchanged fists and forearms as time ran down. Moose landed a clothesline as they were both laid out as 10 seconds remained. It went the distance as it was left to the judges. Guess they knew this going in, so that’s why they worked the clock so good. Sad that we didn’t get a decision by pinfall or submission though. In the end, Moose retained by split decision, which was a good call since Moose’s run with the belt is fairly new and he’s pretty over with the fans.

– The Swoggle/Vanguard 1/TNA World Tag Team Champions The Broken Hardys backstage segment was entertaining for what it was, as they referenced TND. Guess Swoggle’s appearance wasn’t a one-and-done deal. Matt was hilarious as always as he inquired if Swoggle was sent by “Meek Mahan” to infiltrate the show, to which Swoggle replied no.

– The Rockstar Spud-Swoggle match continued things from TND where Swoggle abandoned Spud when he was bullied too much. Spud called him out and made fun of his height until he was hit with the Celtic Cross and lost. Yup, in his last two matches, Spud has lost against King Maxel and now Swoggle. At least that was a sensible catalyst for him to quit. The crowd got all into it as commentary informed us of their second annual One Night Only: Live Pay-Per-View. Way to promote that one guys. Why not just do it on a Sunday?

– The Miracle/Moose backstage segment served more ONO hype as Miracle was angered by what happened out there and that things were personal. He wanted an “Anything Goes” match to end things once and for all. At least we got one match promoted there. Ha. They didn’t mention if the Title would be on the line. We assume not given the match rules.

– Eli Drake’s cue card backstage promo hyped his “Facts Of Life” segment that was to come. He hit the button as he reminded us that he’d finally be able to talk next. You know, after two weeks of actual silence and all.

– The “Facts Of Life” segment with Drake and The Broken Hardys was something we’d figure had more to do with last-minute ONO booking than anything else. Drake mentioned that things weren’t over with EC3, so perhaps they’ll have that pick up in later months. Drake’s beef with the Champs came because he wasn’t personally invited to TND, so because he wasn’t on it, it wasn’t able to reach ultra-legendary status. Matt called him out for questioning his broken brilliance (a total no-no) and name-dropped “Day Of New” and “The Bucks Of Youth.” Eventually, Drake eyed the Titles and proposed a challenge where he and a partner of his choosing would challenge for the belts. Of course, it was accepted and the Hardys seen a cheap shot coming and thus, Drake looked like the “dummy” at the end when his face was pushed into the podium.

– The Edwards/Lashley backstage segment was more main event hype that played up on their tensions, as Lashley gave Edwards the chance to hand over the belt. He was told to take it from him. More of the usual, but fine.

– The Trevor Lee/Andrew Everett-Crazzy Steve/Abyss match was a little confusing on paper given the heel-heel alignment, but this looked like a dry attempt to turn Decay into a babyface act. The fact that they lost the licensed Marilyn Manson “Nobodies” song certainly hurt compared to their new song, but it’s not like they can’t create that same sound with something new. That’s sort of what they went for with the new song, but it was still enough of a hinderance to take note of. The gist of things on The Helms Dynasty side was that Gregory Shane Helms had no recollection of his reincarnation as The Hurricane from TND, so it was all about his boys and unity. Our questions of who to root for became a little clearer when they did a hot tag sequence as Abyss got into the match. Helms tried to interfere, but got sprayed with TNA Knockouts Champion Rosemary’s mist. Everett was on the top rope and wanted to go for an aerial maneuver, but he crashed down in the form of a Chokeslam instead for them to take the loss. The post-match angle with DCC’s beer bottle ambush was what it was. Not the most excitable of feuds, but if Decay are babyfaces now. we suppose it makes sense. Just hope they don’t drag it. To hype ONO some more, they announced that Rosemary would defend against Sienna, so that’s a thing.

– The Maria/Allie backstage segment made us warm and fuzzy because it’s Allie and Maria’s the best heel on the mic hands down. They can’t go wrong with this storyline. Maria was enraged that Allie thought she was a wrestler now that she beat Laurel Van Ness. She informed her assistant she had something special planned for her and to come to the ring.

– The Sienna-Allie match with Madison Rayne on commentary was what we expected, as they continued this storyline of the slow build to Allie’s overcoming of Maria and her fierce gang of prep ladies. Sienna took control with a boot to the face, as Braxton Sutter (who trained Allie) came down to root for Allie. LVN stood closer to Sutter as the match progressed and they smartly utilized it as a distraction tactic. It provided one near-fall with the Drive By as Allie slapped Sienna and worked up a flurry of punches and kicks. The crowd was louder than ever as she landed a second rope crossbody and a body slam. Eventually, LVN put her arms around Sutter and made like she was about to make out with him, which distracted Allie to get hit with the Silencer and nobody gets up from that. Solid way to advance things, as they had LVN use Sutter to humiliate Allie, even though we could tell that Sutter wasn’t feeling into LVN at all. It was telling how well it went when the crowd was super loud and then you could hear a pin drop after the three count. Sutter did look silly in that he was dragged away by LVN’s hand. Wasn’t he strong enough to break free on his own and run away?

– The TNA World Championship Three-Way match between Champion Edwards, Lashley and EC3 was ultimately enjoyable as they had each man shine in different portions and showed double-teams in a way that was smart. Edwards/EC3 tried repeatedly to work over Lashley, but ended up taken down with a double suplex. Edwards/EC3 fought it out once they felt Lashley was incapacitated enough. Lashley hit a double German Suplex, a brainbuster on Edwards and uncovered two turnbuckles in the corner. We figured they’d use that for the finish maybe, perhaps Lashley accidentally runs into it on a spear attempt? Edwards/EC3 hit a double-team suplex on Lashley. Another cool spot where Edwards/EC3 exchanged chops and they both saw Lashley charging at them and they double-chopped him. Lashley hit a Tower Of Doom spot on the other two before he kicked out of EC3’s TK3. EC3 had Edwards in the sleeper hold as they stood in front of the corner with the exposed steel. Lashley ran into both of them with a spear, which sent EC3 rolling out of the ring. Instead of doing the smart thing like attempt a cover on the unconscious Edwards, he picked up the Champ and tossed him out of the ring. Um, why? He covered it up as he speared EC3 outside to take him out. Edwards rose up (a little too quickly for our liking) and hit a suicide dive. Lashley eventually executed the spear and grabbed the Title at ringside and was ready to use it when Richards came down and took it away. That set Edwards up for the Boston Knee Party to retain. Good stuff overall and a great way to reunite The Wolves. One can only assume that Lashley will address this next week and maybe want to get rid of The Wolves himself? Maybe it’ll happen at ONO?

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About Nicholas Jason Lopez

Just a 25 year-old Brooklynite. Nothing more, nothing less.
Currently Freelancing for The Bensonhurst Bean website in Brooklyn, he has also been published on sites such as Review Fix, College University of New York Athletic Conference, Dying Scene, Brooklyn News Service, All Media NY, BrooklynFans.com and Yahoo Voices.
He has also interned for The Home Reporter/Brooklyn Spectator based out of Brooklyn, NY.